1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of enveloping generally rectangular shaped bales of material such as cotton, trash, etc. and, more particularly, relates to the use of a web of closed, preformed end-to-end bags for enveloping bales and an apparatus and method for placing the bags over an insertion tube.
2. Background
Bulk materials such as cotton, insulation, trash, cloth, scraps, recyclables, etc. are today typically packaged by compressing binding into large rectangular bales. Oftentimes, it is desirable to envelop such bales with a protective covering material which is typically made of plastic such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Cotton bales, for example, are today enveloped in plastic bags so as to protect the cotton during transport. Bales of trash are also similarly enveloped so that, during transport, trash pieces that may fall off the bale will be contained.
Such bales are today enveloped by essentially manually inserting them into large bags and manually closing and sealing the bags. As can be appreciated, this process can be time-consuming and costly. Accordingly there is a need for an automated method and apparatus for enveloping rectangular bales and, more particularly, for automatically placing bags on an insertion tube for inserting bales therein.